Action is a first step
It’s no secret that exercising regularly and eating right are the keys to staying fit, but people may find better results when they’re given a little help along the way.
Among the more promising forms of help are two new intervention programs, one targeted to elementary school children, the other to college freshmen. Results of studies examining the programs were among the findings presented last week at a Las Vegas conference cosponsored by the North American Assn. for the Study of Obesity and the American Diabetes Assn.
In the first study on intervention programs, 300 third-graders in Georgia took part in moderate to vigorous exercise in the FitKids Project, a daily after-school program offered at nine schools. After receiving a healthy snack, the kids played basketball, soccer, danced, jumped rope and did other activities for 80 minutes, 40 of which required continuous movement at a rigorous pace. Children in a same-size control group were left to their own devices.
“We know in general that the push has been toward eating more unhealthy snacks, watching more TV and doing relatively little physical activity,” said lead researcher Bernard Gutin, professor of pediatrics and physiology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. “The idea was to take those after-school hours and provide a fit environment, and give an opportunity to change those behaviors.”
At the end of the school year, kids in the study group who participated in the program 40% of the time had reduced their body fat by about 0.7%, while the control group increased theirs by 0.1%.
Although the body fat numbers seem small, Gutin said, over time the weight gain in particular can add up.
In the other intervention program, the dreaded “freshman 15” -- those excess pounds typically gained in the first year of college -- were avoided in a study involving about 50 normal-weight freshmen at the Universite de Sherbrooke in Canada. Participants attended 10 months of seminars emphasizing lifestyle changes, and were given nutrition and exercise information. They were also encouraged to eat healthy foods and to exercise.
“It was based on how to change small things in your life that could make a difference,” said researcher Dr. Marie-France Hivert. The control group was given no intervention.
Participants in the study group lost an average of half a pound, while the control group gained 2.5 pounds on average. “This is the time when people choose for the first time what they shop for at the grocery store, and if they’re going to drive to the university or ride their bike,” Hivert said. “It’s important to make decisions about your lifestyle right from the start.”
In other findings reported at the conference:
* The Internet is becoming an increasingly popular -- and effective -- tool for losing weight and getting fit.
Researchers at the University of Vermont found that people who used an interactive weight loss site, which included peer support and feedback on nutrition and exercise, lost more than twice as much weight as those using a commercial site that just offered information.
“If you don’t have some accountability or monitoring, people are unlikely to follow through for more than two or three weeks,” said Thomas Wadden, director of the Weight and Eating Disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and president-elect of NAASO.
* Exercising with your favorite canine can lead to weight loss for both species.
A year-long study, funded by a pet-food maker, found that overweight people who exercised with their portly pooches and ate a healthy diet lost the same amount of weight as overweight people who exercised and dieted solo. Both groups lost an average of 11 pounds, or 5% of bodyweight (the dogs lost about 12 pounds, or 15% of bodyweight), and kept it off for a year.
But Dr. Robert Kushner, medical director of the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, believes the people who exercised with their dogs enjoyed the workouts more. “Instead of finding it depriving and restricting, dog owners found it fun and rewarding,” he said.
* Sleeping four hours or less a night may lead to obesity.
In a study from Columbia University, researchers compared people ages 32 to 59 who slept no more than four hours a night with a similar group who slept between seven and nine hours per night. Those who slept less were 73% more likely to be obese than those who got more sleep. Lead researcher James Gangwisch, a postdoctoral fellow in psychiatric epidemiology, said that when the body is sleep deprived, hormonal changes cause increased appetite.
